(Day 1)
After many months of fundraising, training, organising and a day of flight delays we have finallyarrived at the annual MBA Rugby World Cup tournament in Danville, North Carolina, USA to defendour title as Rugby World Cup Champions for a record 11th time!
This year we have brought 48 people consisting of 47 players and 1 coach. This is the largest numberof players who have ever represented the school at the tournament! This is testament to the hardwork of the leadership team and the players themselves in raising sufficient funds to make thishappen.
On the 2 hour bus transfer from the airport to the hotel everyone was in very high spirits with plentyof singing to keep us entertained. While I listened, I was thinking that if some of the player’s rugbyskills were as poor as their singing, we were going to be in trouble!
I was proved wrong yesterday.
The men’s team ended day one undefeated after 3 matches.
- Game 1 Smurfit vs. London Business School (B team). Score 57 – 0
- Game 2 Smurfit vs. Harvard Business School (B team). Score 35 – 5
- Game 3 Smurfit vs. London Business School (B team). Score 60 – 0
The ladies team also put in a fantastic performance against some very tough opposition and are nowplaced 7th in the tournament!
The weather is extremely hot so we have had to make many trips to Walmart to stock up on water,Gatorade and fruit to keep our troops hydrated and nourished!
We are getting ready for day two and hopefully we will be booking an extra seat on the plane to bring home the silverware!
– Therese O’Rourke, FT MBA 2012-13
